Graduate Tracer

This study is anchored on the theory of phenomenon on the six degrees of separation theory by Karinthy (1921) in his short story of “Chains”. He posited that despite physical distances between individuals, the gr owing density of human networks made the actual social distance far smaller. And also he believed that the modern world was shrinking due to the ever-increasing connectedness of human beings. Because of the technological advances in communications and travel, friendship networks could grow larger. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation). Six degrees of separation is the theory that anyone on the planet can be connected to any other person through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than five intermediaries. (http://whatis.techtarget.com./definition/0, sid9_gci932596_top1, 00.html). Milgram (1967) an American sociologist conducted a small world experiment to test the hypothesis of six degree separation. This experiment examined the members of the large social networks of people in the United States. That would be connected to each other through short chains of intermediate acquaintances. (http://smallworld.columbia.edu/description.html). McLuhan (1967) said, “The new electronic interdependence recreates the world in the image of a global village.” Today, the global village is mostly used as a metaphor to describe the Internet and World Wide Web. The Intenet, as defined by Long (2001), is a worldwide collection of interconnected networks. This globalizes communication by allowing users from around the world to connect with each other. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_world_experiment#Basic_procedure).
Watts (2001), a professor at Columbia University, recreated Milgram’s small world experiment using the internet. This time, he used an e-mail message to be sent to different recipients. His findings concurred with Milgram’s. This has opened up new areas of inquiry related to six degrees of separation in diverse areas of network